Crutch



May 1, 1962 Fig 5 H. HOFFMANN CRUTCH Filed July 2, 1958 United States Patent 3,032,048 CRUTCH Heinz Hoifrnann, Schicklerstr. 1, Eberswalde, Germany Filed July 2, 1958, Ser. No. 746,225 4 Claims. (Cl. 135-475) The present invention relates to a crutch for people who are more or less severely injured or are amputees and who cannot walk without crutches.

The supports used heretofore are hard to manage and often cause pain, for instance when the crutch user has to go upstairs and is compelled to hold on to a railing of the stairs with one hand and must take both his crutches into the other. Also when boarding buses or streetcars or entering a restaurant or a theatre, the crutches used heretofore have proved to be cumbersome.

Interfitting crutches have been known: one crutch including the handle may be slipped into the hollow shaft of the other which may be opened and closed like a container. Also here when using the first crutch the hollow handle of the outer crutch must be opened in order to take out the inner crutch which is inconvenient, especially if the crutches are used by frail people with injured legs. These people may fall while doing so. Moreover the inner crutch in most cases is somewhat shorter than the outer crutch which must be especially heavy in order to be capable of supporting the full weight of the user. Furthermore, an interfitting crutch is known where the inner crutch is pushed through a special opening in the handle of the outer crutch. When using such a pair of known crutches, extensive movements of the arms are necessary and the operation of pulling the inner crutch out of the outer crutch can only take place within a large space. When returning the inner crutch into the handle of the outer crutch, the cavity in the handle must first be located; also the two crutches cannot be attached too firmly to each other as they have to be separated again.

According to the present invention, it is not a whole crutch which is pushed through a slot of the other crutch, but only the handle of one crutch is hollow and is open at one end. Into said opening, the hollow handle of the other crutch is pushed and kept in place by means of a catch. The one crutch is placed against the other crutch which is shaped accordingly so as to ensure a quick and firm interlocking of the two crutches. The combined crutch can be used as easily as a single crutch and can be separated again into the two crutches. The surfaces of the two combined crutches may be flattened and adjusted to each other and may be provided with various interlocking safety devices such as longitudinal slots and projections. The locking means suitably consist of a compression spring attached to the inner part of the handle and equipped with latch means engaging a recess of the other handle when fitting the two crutches into each other.

The two crutches are combined in a very simple manner whereby the crutch not needed does not hinder the user. Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1a is a view of one crutch;

FIG. lb is a view of the other crutch;

FIG. 2 shows the two crutches in interlocked position;

Patented May 1, 1962 "ice FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the encircled part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, showing simpler construction of the uprights;

FIG. 6 shows uprights having circular cross section; and

FIG. 7 shows a modification where the one crutch engages with a rib a corresponding groove of the other crutch.

In the drawings, the reference letter a designates the crutch with the larger hollow handle b (open at one end) into which the crutch a (FIG. 1b) having a somewhat narrower hollow handle b may be pushed while s and c are armrests for the user. d is a leaf spring attached inside to the handle b of the second crutch which forces the catch e into an opening or recess f provided at the underside of the handle b of the first crutch a. This catch can be released by pressing a finger against the button i in the direction of the arrow g, whereby both crutches can be separated at once, a procedure that is facilitated by providing a spring k in the space h. The opposing surfaces of the two combined crutches may have various shapes as shown in FIGS. 4-7; preferably, they are flattened and adjusted to each other over their entire length. One of these surfaces may be provided with a rib or embossment fitting into a groove of the adjacent surface of the crutch a. Such rib and groove are shown in FIG. 7.

I claim:

1. A pair of interfitting similar crutches suitable for ready assembly to a single crutch, each crutch being provided with an arm rest and a handle, the handle below said arm rest of the one crutch fitting into the handle of the other crutch, means detachably connecting said handles, the legs of said crutches being provided with interengaging projections and recesses.

2. A pair of interfitting similar crutches suitable for ready assembly to a single crutch, each crutch being provided with an arm rest and a handle, the handle below said arm rest of the first crutch being hollow to receive the handle of the second crutch, a slot in said handle of the first crutch, a latch inside said handle of the second crutch, a lug on said latch received in said slot, the leg of said first crutch being hollow to receive said lug in latched position of the crutches, and spring means in the handle of said second crutch pressing said lug into said slot and hollow leg.

3. The structure of claim 2 comprising outwardly projecting manipulating means on said latch for pressing the latch against said spring means on disassembling the crutches.

4. The structure of claim 2 comprising at least one interengaging rib and groove on the opposed contacting faces of the legs of the crutches.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 418,806 Minniss Jan. 7, 1890 432,759 Minniss July 22, 1890 2,300,456 Lyons Nov. 3, 1942 2,700,979 Ries Feb. 1, 1955 2,755,096 Fishalow July 17, 1956 

